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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29311881">distant solar systems</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/infrequency/pseuds/infrequency'>infrequency</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>SEVENTEEN (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bittersweet, Canon Compliant, Feelings Realization, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 08:48:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>939</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29311881</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/infrequency/pseuds/infrequency</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>He had always thought that falling in love would feel like moving a mountain. But with Jeonghan, it’s as easy as breathing. As easy as falling asleep next to a familiar body, the magnetic pull of his hand. He doesn’t need protection, but Seungcheol would give it anyway.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Yoon Jeonghan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>99</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>distant solar systems</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>i wrote this for a sensory prompt thing months ago, "the way cold glass fogs when you press your hand against it." i kept coming back to it and figured it was time to post it to ao3. title is from the julien baker song of the same name, "distant solar systems"</p><blockquote>
  <p>I knew the words you sing before you<br/>Ever thought to sing them<br/>You call yourself a bastard<br/>And I love you like an orphan<br/></p>
</blockquote>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“What do you wanna do next?”</p><p>Jeonghan leans into Seungcheol’s shoulder, fingers still interlocked in his. His hair tickles Seungcheol’s chin, but not enough for him to complain or pull away.</p><p>“I just wanna stay here for a little bit. It feels nice to just. Be, you know?”</p><p>The overripe summer sun hangs low in the sky, spilling light across the water and splitting into beams through the smog. Jeonghan’s fingers are still ice cream-sticky, clippings of grass and dirt sticking to his palm. It’s been some time since Seungcheol has seen Jeonghan so unrefined, soft with almost no makeup, stubble on his chin, his newly cropped hair unstyled.</p><p>They’ve been out of the dorms all day, opting out of “family dinner” to go on an adventure.</p><p>No managers. No other members. Just Seungcheol-and-Jeonghan, taking electric scooters down the riverside, sharing kimchi-ppang, buying each other silly trinkets at a street market. Seungcheol-and-Jeonghan, dressed down and wrapped in each other, letting time tick past.</p><p>Each second is savored. </p><p>He’s still surprised that he got Jeonghan to agree to come out. The last time they went out together, Seungcheol had gotten a little too drunk, lost both of their cell phones, and they had to trudge home on foot in the rain.</p><p>Jeonghan had almost thrown a book at him for even asking earlier that day.</p><p>“It’s been so long since you’ve gone out with me,” Seungcheol had pouted.</p><p>“You want me to pass up free food?” he had asked, staring at Seungcheol with narrowed eyes. Having no schedules had felt like a dream come true, and it’s not often they all get to just <em>be </em>a group of twenty-somethings hanging out.</p><p>Seungcheol had scrambled for the next best option. “I’ll buy you food.”</p><p>“But the company is buying us food.”</p><p>“I’ll also buy dessert,” Seungcheol lobbed back, holding his breath. Jeonghan had started at him inquisitively, giving it several long moments before finally conceding.</p><p>“<em>Ooookay</em>, fine.”</p><p>Now, hours later, they’ve been stretched out and tangled in each other on a blanket for some time now, sun in their eyes. Jeonghan speaks in a low, even voice and Seungcheol nods in the alcove of his hoodie as he listens.</p><p>Seungcheol wonders if Jeonghan can feel his heart thrumming under the hand pressed against his chest. </p><p>He’s so close that Seungcheol can smell the light fragrance of Jeonghan’s body wash. It feels like fate that it mingles nicely with his cologne.</p><p>“Thank you for today,” Jeonghan says suddenly, shattering the quiet and raising his pitch. “I didn’t realize how much I needed it until just now, so. Thanks.”</p><p>Seungcheol spends time with Jeonghan in the dorms, but he gets what he means. It's been eons since he last felt unweighted by obligation and duty, so just existing with someone else with no reminder of what they have in common feels nice.</p><p>It makes him feel whole again to know Choi Seungcheol still has a place in this world as much as S.Coups.</p><p>The trek back to the dorms is less of a slog than last time, both of them still feeling light from their day away from the other members. He didn’t drink this time, but Seungcheol feels buoyant anyway, realizing that Jeonghan’s hand is still in his.</p><p>When they reach the apartment building, Seungcheol hangs back for a minute, telling Jeonghan to go in without him. Their fingers make a gross sticky sound as they come undone from between Seungcheol’s. Both of them let out a nervous laugh.</p><p>“I'll be inside,” Jeonghan says, giving an awkward wave before departing. Seungcheol watches him go and he feels something click into place as he watches him go in.</p><p>The air conditioned indoors make the glass door fog at the corners, the imprint of Jeonghan's fingertips still remaining.</p><p>Seungcheol had always thought that falling in love would be a magic moment, something that would move the earth and shake the buildings around him. He’s curled himself around Jeonghan for comfort for the better part of a decade, clinging to him like static. He seals the good moments between them in his memory, blocks out the bad.</p><p>He had always thought that falling in love would feel like moving a mountain. But with Jeonghan, it’s as easy as breathing. As easy as falling asleep next to a familiar body, the magnetic pull of his hand.</p><p>He doesn’t need protection, but Seungcheol would give it to him anyway.</p><p>Seungcheol’s fingertips touch the corners of the glass as he finally walks into the building. They leave a smudge just over where Jeonghan's fingers landed.</p><p>When he steps onto the 8th floor, he can hear Jeonghan’s cackling from the other room and the other members joining in. Warmth bubbles and swells under his skin at the sound, but for a few short moments, he let himself imagine something a little more selfish.</p><p>A life where their outing as something from another life where he could call Jeonghan <em>his. </em>Where holding his hand in public means something and is a luxury he can afford, something more than skinship played up for others to see. Where those quiet moments between them when no one else is around are theirs and theirs alone.</p><p>For a moment, Seungcheol lets himself hold the thing he wants and lives in the fleeting vision. </p><p>Jeonghan’s eyes meet his from across the room, still bright with laughter.</p><p>Like the fingerprints in the condensation, the fantasy fades away.</p><p>“Cheolie, come look at this!”</p><p>Dutifully, he goes. He tries to forget the taste of wanting, still sweet on his tongue.</p><p>But the longing lingers. A bitter aftertaste.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p><a href="http://curiouscat.qa/infrequenced">cc</a> // <a href="http://twitter.com/infrequenced">fic twt</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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